Close Enough and Other Drabbles
by faelyn leaf
Summary: A collection of drabbles written in no particular order or time frame.
1. Close Enough

Buffy slammed the phone down, "That's it!"

Dawn looked up from the sauce she was stirring and looked at her sister. "What's it?"

"No more dating guys with the word "the" in their names. Especially not when the second word is Immortal."

Dawn winced. "You two break up?"

"Yes. And from now on you're going to see a new Buffy. A Buffy that stays far away from guys with titles. No more Scourges of Europe, William the Bloody-s or the Immortals for this girl!"

"Umm, yeah, that makes sense. What about Riley?"

"He worked for _the_ Initiative. Close enough."


	2. Halloween Nightmares

_Him_? She had worn that red and pink monstrosity of a dress for him?

Buffy had tried to seduce him. Angel wasn't sure if he should feel flattered or amused. In reality, he felt neither.

It was true that the women of his time had bored him, and Buffy's alter ego tonight and driven the point home more succinctly than any stake, but ...

But despite his reassurances and teasing, Angel felt revolted. He swore to himself, and to the Powers, that he would never tell her, but Buffy in that dress reminded him of Darla. He hoped she'd burn it.


	3. Complications

Buffy wished she was still a kid. Back before she knew her destiny, and all she cared about were boys and the season's hottest shade of lip gloss.

Then she had been called; stakes replaced chunky heels as her fashion accessories. And popularity? Well, vamp dust wasn't a hit with friends.

Next came Sunnydale, and words took on new meanings. Angels were demons. Always meant "you're too young to decide" and "it's too hard to stay". Curses became survival.

And now a sister? Glowy energy packaged in Dawn shaped form and sent to her.

Life wasn't simple any more.


	4. Protection

Angelus liked watching Buffy. He hated her, loved her, wanted to fuck her. She was his obsession, even more interesting than Dru, and he just couldn't quit.

He lurked around the edges of her life always making his presence know, always _felt_. He hunted her schoolmates, sent her love poems, killed her teachers, but never once had he threatened those she loved. He had amnesty so long as he didn't cross that line. She would take anything else he threw at her. Protection from the Slayer was every fledgling's dream, and now he had it.

It kinda turned him on.


	5. Mad Humans

"Turn the bloody channel!" Spike demanded. "The telly's going off about mad cows again."

"What?" asked Buffy.

"There's no telling what diseases humans have these days, is there? Half my meals have the clap, the other half's got something worse. Vampires need to start worrying about our health; gotta start protecting ourselves. Would you want to eat something that's got warts on its nether regions? Humans are always in a fit about mad cows and what have you, but do they ever stop to think that they're the uneatable ones?"

"And I'm officially never having hamburger related products again."


	6. He Would've Known

Angel would've known.

It was wrong, and it wasn't fair to Riley, but that's what Buffy thought whenever she looked at her boyfriend.

Angel would have seen right through Faith, been able to tell that it was her just by looking into her eyes. She may have worn Buffy's body, but there was more to a person than just what they look like. Angel would have known that as intimately as Buffy did.

Angel wouldn't have slept with Faith. He would've known, explained to the guys, and come to Buffy's rescue.

Buffy decided that she needed to see him, _badly_.


	7. Happy Birthday

So much for Buff's big day. Nothing else makes for happier birthdays than slayerly duties, judges and vamps.

Well, except for maybe one vampire, but that was before he had gotten a happy. Whoops, there went his soul.

Xander didn't like Dead Boy, but at least before it wasn't like baiting a tiger just saying his name. Everyone was so careful around Buffy, they didn't mention that she should start making with the slayage before her ex boyfriend killed them all.

Why was Buffy allowed to cry when Xander had to make stakes for Jesse the same night he died?


	8. Selfish

When Willow let Dawn stay in Sunnydale, it was the most selfish decision she'd ever made. Buffy was dead, and the witch couldn't let Dawn go too. She was made from Summers blood, and that was almost good enough as still having Buffy. Besides, there was only one Summers girl left, and Willow wanted her close.

Willow nominated herself to go to LA, and left the funeral for the others to plan. That too, she thought, was selfish.

When Willow decided to bring Buffy back, she thought of demons, Dawnie, and lastly herself. She doesn't think it's selfish at all.


	9. Threshold

"Sorry, Dead Boy, vamp dust's a major faux pas at homecoming. Maybe the next one'll be somewhere you won't combust."

A lifetime ago, Angel would have tortured the boy for the insult. He still knew how, still remembered the exact threshold of pain a human could take. Back then he savoured screams like fine wine, and now it was his soul's revulsion that held him back.

Buffy had enough love for all of them, and Angel loved that most about her. He would tolerate Xander for her sake, but the boy needed to understand what Angel was: a demon.


	10. Names

The hardest part about being pregnant, Joyce thought, wasn't the cravings for baloney and Hershey bar sandwiches, or even the morning sickness. It was the name game. Everyone had an opinion.

"Sarah's popular these days," her mother said.

"What about Brittany? Ashley?" Hank suggested.

But when the time came, and she held her daughter for the first time all she could see was Buffy.

Everyone told her she would regret the name within a month.

Joyce looked at her sleeping daughter and smiled. A tiny girl with a silly name, but Buffy was going to change the world.


	11. Fairytale

He liked watching her fight. There was nothing else like the Slayer stalking and killing her prey. Even Soul Boy couldn't resist the animal intensity that flashed in her eyes when she dusted another fledgling. She had power, and she liked it.

This time, he couldn't stop himself. Confident in her kill, she let her guard down long enough for Angelus to tackle and pin her down.

"Angel?"

"Sorry, Buff, I've told you before your boyfriend's dead. This isn't a fairytale."

"No," she moaned, "it's a nightmare."

Angelus smiled and bit into her neck.


	12. The Beginning

This was his slayer? This little wisp of an upstart girl who tried to deny her calling and ignored every rule in the Slayer's handbook?

Giles could sympathise. After all, he had ran from his own destiny, once.

Buffy would come to her senses eventually. He just hoped it wouldn't take demon possession to get her there. If she didn't, she wouldn't last a week, not on the Hellmouth. The Harvest was coming, and he didn't have time for unruly Slayers. The Master would make her, or break her.

He hoped it was the former.


	13. Round Two

She had released him? Had the Slayer finally gone insane?

Angelus laughed. Centuries in the Hell dimension and his ex girlfriend calls him back. He probably wasn't what she had in mind, but he should go and thank her anyway. It would stimulating.

The curse hadn't worked – still he decided to tie up some loose ends. Couldn't have little witches perfecting their spells and letting Soul Boy come around again. Not when Angelus wanted to play.

So, Buff wanted round two, did she? Well then, he'd be more than happy to oblige.


	14. Humanity

She makes him feel like a man.

He wants her to go, to push her away, but who is he to deny her anything?

It isn't right. He's undeserving, the very idea is profane, but he can't help himself. Not when she rests her head against his chest, and he can almost hear his long dead heart beat. Not when she's so content she falls asleep in his arms.

The Slayer bearing her neck to a vampire in perfect trust.

It makes him want to rip out his own throat.


	15. Three

"They're doing the star-crossed staring thing again."

"Eye-sex, Xander," Anya said.

"What?"

"It's no where near the real thing, but if you turned into a psychotic killer every time you had an orgasm, we'd get good at it."

"They're not just looking at each other, they're --"

"Sex."

"Visuals! Bad visuals!"

"At least they aren't unattractive."

"I've stood in front of them while they ... Tell me it wasn't a threesome!"

"I thought you wanted --"

"_No_!"


End file.
